The Coldest Touch
by PeacockParadox
Summary: For some, death is only the beginning. One choice creates a domino effect that can alter the lives of countless groups of people. What happens when a frail girl is thrown into the immortal world of vampires? Rated M for future chapters.
1. Prologue: Death

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, nor do I have any affiliation with Stephanie Meyer. This is purely for my own enjoyment, and any copyright infringement in purely unintentional. The only character(s) I own are Tawny, and all other original characters.

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**Prologue; Death**

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The sun wove through her golden hair like a stunning thread, running down to the center of her back in soft curls that framed her slightly pink face. Warmth danced across her still fingertips, while she closed her eyes against a light breeze. The epitome of calm. The very essence of serenity. He watched her from the shadows, his throat burning as if he had just swallowed hot coals. She was everything he wanted, everything he needed, and everything he would have.

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In one foul swoop, the unsuspecting girl was attacked, a frightened scream ripping itself from her delicate lips as his teeth sunk into her neck. There was no pain; no poison burning like fire through her veins, no agony eating her alive. Just nothing.

Pure, absolute, and definite nothing.

The blackness was overwhelming, yet she had no knowledge of it. She did not exist, she was neither here nor there. Her seemingly lifeless body was being carried, swept through the foliage of states in a blur, but she was utterly oblivious to this fact. She knew nothing, remembered nothing... she felt nothing. The tiny girl did not comprehend the change her being was undergoing; how could she know? The ever present rose color that warmed her cheeks was long gone, replaced by an alabaster tone. Her plump lips were pale, and dark circles had appeared under her once sapphire eyes. Little did she know, her orbs were now a bright crimson - a color she would not be able to escape from for months. She would never be able to cry again, or sleep. The never ending thirst would claw at her throat forever, driving her mad until she killed.

This is what waited for her. This is what she was damned to now.

He left her in a dilapidated barn, barely visible beneath the layers of snow. The land belonged to no one, and he believed that her body would never be found, that no one would miss her. With one faint brush of her forehead, he erased her memory with the gift that followed him into his immortal life. Why did he go through such trouble to rip her away from society? Why did he leave her? Why didn't he just kill her? The questions ran through his mind as he left the now soulless woman, alone and broken. She laid still, limp against the freezing snow that she did not feel. Three days passed - three days of frozen nothing.

It was then she awoke.


	2. Chapter 2: 1918

Salem, Massachusetts. **1918**

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It wasn't supposed to be anything special, you know. Just another birthday. Just another year passing. Still, Tawny Alexander s parents were not planning on letting her 18th birthday go by unnoticed. The lithe blonde had never been one for celebration, but Parker and Ellia refused to let their daughter go another year without at least a small gathering.

"Tawny love, will you please stand still? I'm almost done with this stitch, and then you can go to your clearing." Ellia chided the small woman standing above her as she squirmed again. Shifting wasn't the best idea, since a needle was dangerously close to her body, but Tawny had had enough. "Mother, I do not need a new dress! It will only get dirty, just like the rest of them. And besides, who am I trying to impress at this little party you and father have set up?" Her sapphire eyes locked in on her mother s at the question, and the short female instantly looked away.

"You didn't!" Tawny gasped the accusation as realization hit. It would be her first day as a woman, and already her parents were trying to set her up with someone. Classic. Just then, Parker strolled through the door. Tawny froze and snapped her jaw shut, contrite in a second. "Uh oh Ellia, what did we do now?" Her father shook his curly blonde head as he chuckled. His laugh had always been comforting and contagious, causing Tawny to begrudgingly relax.

"I cannot believe you two." Her words were clipped and aggravated. Even though a word hadn't been said to confirm her suspicions, Tawny just knew. Her intuition was spot on almost every single time. Both a gift and a curse, her parents would always say. In this case, it was definitely a curse for them.

Her father sat down with a sigh, nodding slightly under her deathly glare. "Easy, love. We didn't do anything. He asked us about you. At the market last weekend, the day you didn't join us." She rolled her eyes at the memory. Right, they had wanted to go as a family, and Tawny had decided to visit her clearing in the forest. It was her place of sanity, and it was beautiful.

"Just tell me who it was. I don't need the story, Da, I just need a name." The pale young woman used the pet name for her father, the same one she used when she was younger. It worked like magic. "Killian Reynolds. You remember him, right? You two used to be quite the pair of friends. He s a very nice-" Tawny sighed and cut him off before he could finish his sentence. "Yes yes, he is a very nice boy father. And quite the painter. But I don't want anyone, don t you see? I still have many years to find the right man for me." Her parents exchanged a soft glance, and for a moment their daughter felt like she was intruding. Seeing as how her hem was finished, she silently stepped down from the pedestal and tried to sneak away without being noticed.

"You're not getting away that easily, love. I'm going to set your hair tonight, and tomorrow you will look even more beautiful than you do now." Ellia embraced her warmly, causing Tawny's father to roll his eyes, along with his daughter. "Ah Tawny. My daughter, a woman tomorrow. I just might have a heart attack, you know."

The three of them laughed happily and hugged in the middle of their quaint living room. It was all so perfect, despite the struggles they had gone through to get there. Things couldn't get any better.

Which is exactly why they went downhill from there

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Tawny's party had gone off without a hitch, and Killian was actually quite respectful to her. The blonde female and redheaded male got along wonderfully, even after all these years, escaping the throng of people once the sun set. Their quiet laughter was muted by the trees, and she felt the need to bring him to her special clearing. No one had ever been there, least not with her. But something about the night, and something about Killian, made it seem like a good idea.

"We're nearly there. Ouch! Stop clinging to me, Kil! I promise there are no monsters out here." She teased him and giggled happily in the moonlit forest. He rolled his eyes, even though she couldn't see. "I'm not scared of the monsters, Tawny. I'm scared of you." Killian retorted with a wide, toothy grin. They both laughed again and bumped into each other as the tiny female came to an abrupt stop. "Ow, give someone a warning next time, Tawn?" He instantly became quiet as she silently placed a hand on his arm.

They moved forward, him following her lead, until the brush became no more. The silvery beams of the moon reflected off of her almost translucent skin, and for a moment Killian forgot how to speak. Tawny closed her eyes and sat down in the middle of her clearing, pulling him down with her. Of course he obliged without so much as a breath.

They sat like that for quite some time. Just listening, breathing, hearing. No words were spoken. There was no need.

It seemed like hours had passed, days even. The silence enveloped them, and all was quiet until Tawny finally spoke.

"Killian, this is where I go when I need to escape. It's my special place, you know." She spoke softly, letting the words float through the air. He nodded once and inhaled the night air deeply before answering. "I can see why you would come here. It's absolutely beautiful." Almost as beautiful as you, he wanted to say. Killian and Tawny had been friends for years, but never extremely close. He was absolutely crazy about her, and she was none the wiser.

With hesitant moves, like a baby learning to walk for the first time, he placed his fingertips under her chin. "Happy birthday, Tawny." The redhead didn't wait for her to object, even though she wouldn't have anyway. In a moment, their lips were molded together like rose petals, and the moonlight bathed them in a calm blanket of silver. They were both new to this, but it didn't matter. Their minds were only on each other as the grass beneath them became a cushion for their bodies.

And then he was gone. Tawny's eyes flew open and searched frantically against the bitter darkness. Killian had disappeared from beside her, just like that. She jumped up and whimpered into the empty woods, her hand flying to her mouth as she heard a far off scream of agony. It was Killian. Something had taken him, and left her behind. Why? Why here, in her clearing? Why now?

It only took her a split second of pure stillness to realize the danger. Whoever, or whatever, had taken Killian was not stupid. And it was easily able to inflict a lot of pain. What the hell was she doing just standing there?

"Help! Someone please help!" She screamed and took off running back to the celebration. The cries of pain burned her ears, and the tears stung her eyes. As she broke through the trees and collided with her parents, Tawny broke down. Her words were nothing but panic stricken, incoherent babbling about monsters and moonlight. Uncontrollable sobs and shaking made her breathing hitch every half second. No one could understand her, until she finally choked out Killian. Then they began to search.

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Their search lasted three days. Three days of hearing screams, but no findings ever came of their looking. Tawny stayed locked in her room, curled up in her bed and staring blankly at the wall. She wasn' t ruined over the fact that she might've actually liked Killian as more than a friend.  
It wasn t even that they were actually friends. The truth was, Tawny's intuition was kicking in again. And it was making the blonde sick to her stomach.

Every time night fell, her eyes would stay glued to her window. If that thing was already done with Killian, she knew it would come after her. It had to. There could be no witnesses. Her body rocked with tremors with each gust of wind that rattled the pane of glass next to her head. Every shadow made her twitch and jump.

Even hearing her parents talk about some sort of disease in Chicago could not worry her more than the monster coming for her...


	3. Chapter 3: Intervention

**Intervention**

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Things weren't going so well for Tawny.

It had been days since Killian s kidnapping, and murder, but no one would listen to her. They all said he had run away for some reason, as he had done before. The first time was when he was younger; the adolescent boy was trying to escape punishment for sneaking up behind Tawny and scaring her, causing the young girl to spill fresh milk all over her newest dress. The second time was to avoid work. Everyone knew he would much rather sit outside and quietly paint. So his missing was brushed off, and deemed as "normal". But the blonde knew the truth. However, that was where things went wrong. No one would listen to her; they all thought she had gone crazy.

And perhaps she had.

The rain drops ricocheted off her pale skin for hours before her parents found her. She had been standing outside in the rain, whispering Killian's name. Tawny knew the thing that had taken him was watching her, waiting for its chance to take her too. Evil beings did evil things, and the terror she felt only proved her point.

"Tawny, love you need help." Parker whispered as he carried his daughter back up to her room. The girl stayed silent. Of course she needed help. She needed people to believe her, to go in search for Killian with her. Instead, all she got was sad head shakes and pitiful stares. She didn't want that, for heaven's sake. She wanted her best friend back.

"I hate to do this." Her father's sudden sadness overwhelmed her, pulled her from her reverie. They were to her room now. Tawny gasped softly and stared at the breathtakingly beautiful man standing next to her desk. He was pale, and had the strangest golden eyes. "Hello Miss Alexander. I am Dr. Cullen. I am going to make you better." His voice was like music to her ears, and her muscles immediately relaxed. Her father placed her feet gingerly to the floor, and her long white dress grazed against her toes. Water dripped from the fabric and pooled around her feet as she steadily gazed at him. "You're Carlisle." Tawny said simply. She had heard of the doctor; his reputation as being both beautiful and a wonderful doctor was well known. He smiled and nodded silently.

"Would you like to get away from the house, Miss Alexander? I have a nice room waiting for you." He spoke again, in that velvet voice of his. So calming. But Tawny knew what he really meant. "You mean they're sending me to the hospital." It wasn't a question, and Carlisle's sad smile reassured her, as did the way her father couldn't look at her. "I'd like to go with you, Doctor. I know you will take care of me, and you won't let anything get me." For some reason, she trusted him, even though a part of her naturally recoiled in his mere presence.  
A small glint of fear in his topaz eyes as she mentioned the monster caught her attention. Her intuition flickered, and Tawny knew Carlisle was aware of something out there. It only made her want to go with him even more.

As her parents spoke to him quietly, figuring out the rest of the details, the girl silently slipped out of the house. She needed to say goodbye to her special place, and to the memory of Killian, one last time.  
It was a path she knew well, and had traveled so many countless times. Once, she spent an entire day breaking haphazard branches in order to make a proper path. Tawny could feel hungry eyes boring into her very soul as she walked, but it didn't matter. Bad things only came out at night, right? At least that's what she had always been told. So the sun's rays felt like a safe haven. A warm blanket of cloaking hope. Hope that, maybe one day, she would solve the mystery herself, without any help from the ones that sent her those sympathetic glances. It was too late to save Killian, but at least she could save her sanity.

Right?


	4. Chapter 4: Confusion

Author's Note: This chapter goes after the prologue, for anyone that may be confused. Once again, I don't own anything except for my lovely Tawny, and all other original characters.

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**Confusion**

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Her burgundy orbs fluttered open for the first time in three days. They swept the area where her body laid, but nothing looked familiar to her. Deteriorated walls, rusted metal, snow freckled with bits of hay. How had she gotten here? Where was she?

In one gracefully slow motion, the frail girl lifted her hands up to her face. The alabaster digits seemed foreign; whose hands were these? Surely not hers. These were too pale, far too similar to the white abyss surrounding her. Too dainty. Too fragile.

However, as soon as the thought reverberated through her mind, she realized that she did not know what her hands looked like in the first place. The fingers stretched and bent under her command, the wrists twirling in a delicate circle at her will. Putting the awe-inspiring event of basic motor skills on the back burner, she came to the realization that she was on the ground. Laying in snow. Yes, she was bordered by the icy substance, but it felt almost warm to her. How strange. With the same graceful ability as shown before, the blonde leisurely sat up. Crimson irises gazed at her deconstructed environment while her mind simultaneously acknowledged the fact that everything looked so detailed. Was that normal? Was she supposed to be able to see that termite inching its way across the wooden plank?

The small amount of sunlight squeezing through the cracked walls warmed her legs, and she reveled in it before glancing down nonchalantly. "Oh…" Her melodic, chime-like voice could not hope to distract her attention from the rainbows that danced along her skin. Her eyes widened at the sparkling prisms. That was definitely not standard behavior of sunlight and human flesh. Perhaps a more acceptable reaction would be to pass out or scream, but she did not do either of those things. Even though her mind was overrun with these new discoveries, her body would not let darkness overcome her again. She wasn't tired, per se, but it was all beginning to wear on her.

And then the most wonderful scent she had ever come across danced through her senses.

Fire shot through her throat, and the hands she had finally come to accept as her own flew up to the base of her neck. The feeling would have made tears spring forth, but for some reason... they did not come. Instead, the burning in her throat seemed to increase with each passing second. How was this possible? She gulped down the saliva-like substance that had risen in her mouth, slowly shaking her blonde tresses back and forth. Someone had to have shoved coals down her throat, that was the only explanation.

While the agony inched up her esophogus, the intoxicating presence only crept closer. What was that? She wanted it, even though it was making the pain worse. It clouded her vision, her very thought process. Whatever it was, she needed it. She needed it more than the air surrounding her; which she felt actually wasn't necessary at all. There was no relief in her lungs with each faint gasp, brought on by the looming aura that was coming closer still. God, it was driving her mad. A desperate groan was pulled from her pale lips as she doubled over from the effort of resisting whatever bouquet was giving off such a wonderful fragrance.

The barn door opened, sending a flood of light onto the blonde. The lone man stood in wonder as he finally acknowledged the source of his animals' discontent. They had all refused to wander anywhere near his barn in days. It was just a tiny woman. A very beautiful woman, but a simple woman all the same.

She was the last thing he ever saw.

In an instant, the female was springing forth, pouncing on him with unmatched agility. His startled cry was cut short by her greedy teeth. Crimson stained the snow, their clothes, their skin. She drank from him, gulping down his blood hungrily until there was none left. His mutilated body dropped from her hands and landed with a sickening thud on the frozen ground. Finally, her senses cleared. The burning was gone; but at what cost?

"What have I done?"

Again, her angelic voice did not distract from the current situation. She crawled to a corner in the barn and brought her legs into her chest. The tears that should have come reamined out of her grasp again, replaced by an odd prickling feeling. Blood caked her face and hair, her arms. The corpse laying across from her showed what she had become.

A murderer.

A monster.

She waited for the waves of black guilt to pull her under, but they did not. She had never been lucky enough to deserve such an escape. Instead, numb confusion slid down her spine. It was the only emotion she allowed herself to feel until the sun set, and the moon revealed itself in all its glory.


	5. Chapter 5: Salvation

**Salvation**

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Night came like a light breeze, one that hardly relieved the aching, confined feelings brought on by heat. Her entire body was frozen. Not a single muscle in her being had so much as twitched for hours. Inch by inch, the sunlight retreated from the snow, finding solace in the shadows around her. The woman tried desperately to keep even the smallest thought from entering her mind, but the action was utterly futile. Flashes of the man's terrified face haunted her, his drained and limp body, the loss of control that came over her, how red his blood was, how sweet that nectar had been…

No. No, she couldn't have such vile thoughts. What on Earth was wrong with her? Just the thought of drinking from the fountain of his jugular vein made the inner-workings of her throat burn again. Oh, the pain. The beast within was being licked with the flames of Hell that resided inside of her. Would the thirst never be satisfied? Finally she moved, as her pale hands once more clawed at her neck, her nails trying desperately to expel the source of the monster she had become. Of course, the blonde knew it was all in vain. What she had emerged from that sleep as was... well, she didn't exactly know was she was anymore. A depressing thought. Had she any tears, they would have been streaming down her face. Were her tears, if they existed at all, of any color, her cheeks would be stained with the proof of her already deep guilt. She deserved this. She deserved every second her throat burned as if a hot poker had taken residence there. Every unnecessary breath that brought the scent of horses, far off dear, and moose to her nostrils only made the pain worse, but she deserved it. Even though those smells were not even fractionally as tempting, the bloodlust was still there. She still needed to satiate her hunger, her thirst. Her body needed to be quenched. Every dead nerve ached for that sweet taste of blood, just one more time.

Murderer. Monster.

Before she could take another shaky, painful, pointless breath, an image exploded through her mind. The vision was of a man and woman, both with blonde, curly hair. Blue eyes. Happy smiles. Laughter echoed in her ears as she cried out in shock. What was happening to her? The hallucination was blurry and slow, seeming more out of reach than anything. Her heart should have been pounding under the stress, but she abruptly realized that it was doing no such thing. It was only aching. Aching for understanding, aching for the people she was seeing.

No sooner had the dream appeared, it was gone.

Her body crumpled as every muscle became limp. Golden tresses scattered haphazardly over the snow, her crimson orbs closed, and her tiny frame shook with dry sobs. For the first time since awakening, the girl felt so insignificant and alone. She desperately wanted to comprehend what she had just seen, but she couldn't. Nothing in her mind offered any explanation. All she knew, all she could know, was that her newly sparked curiosity would never die. Not until enlightenment was reached.

But how long would that take? Perhaps the better question was … how much longer did she have? Even now, after exhibiting such power and grace, she had no idea how much longer that sense of control would last.

Another scent invaded her senses, but these were so very different from her victim's. The aroma made every nerve in her body tingle, and she instantly became alert. The primal beast inside of her was getting ready to fight, to defend her territory, for the other fragrance was that of two fellow predators. Exactly what kind of predator, she couldn't say. All that mattered was protecting herself from harm, and she'd be damned if someone was going to take away her new power. They could try, but they would not succeed. The evil thought caused a wicked smirk to flit across her alabaster features as one opposing being stopped in the barn's doorway.

Strawberry blonde hair. Perfect body. Liquid butterscotch eyes. Wary expression.

Who was this woman?

"Kate…go back to the house. Tell Alice she was right after all…" Her velvet voice, though quick and quiet, made the conflicted female want to relax for some reason. She wouldn't though - not while there was still a chance of being attacked. There was no way her presence had gone unnoticed; the statuesque woman was staring right at her. Their eyes remained fixated on one another. Crimson to topaz. Guarded to wild and defensive. The tension in the air was palpable, and the obviously younger girl silently vowed to not break the deafening silence first. To her, that showed weakness.

After a small breath, the strawberry blonde vixen took a small step towards the countering woman. Not enough to cause her to feel a threat, but enough to show that her movements were nothing but cautionary and mildly friendly.

"My name is Tanya, and I'm here to help you. What is your name?"

Her name? The yellow-haired girl blinked once and blankly stared at her. She answered without thinking, acting on a hidden impulse, following through out of a buried habit. The name came from somewhere deep in the crevices of her mind, but it was there nonetheless. Her voice as she answered was hurried, and no longer timid - almost as if her brain wanted to compensate for its previous actions, to make anything real. If something solid was found, maybe she would have something to hold onto. Something, anything to act as an anchor for her sanity.

"Tawny. Tawny Annette Alexander."

And so she was. And so she had always been, apparently. Knowing something, feeling the weight of the truth of those words sink into her bones, made her smile softly. It was the first genuine smile that had graced her face in who knows how long. And if felt good.


	6. Chapter 6: Vampire

Author's Note; Alrighty guys. You know that I don't own anything except for what rightfully belongs to me, so I can't take credit for the lovely Denali coven. However, the chapters will be in first person from here on out. Just thought you should get a heads up. They will be in Tawny's point of view, unless otherwise stated. Enjoy, and REVIEW please!

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**Vampire**

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Tawny Annette Alexander.

The name rolled off my tongue like a symphony in itself. I stifled the juvenile urge to jump up and down, squealing my head off. The temptation to throw in a couple of somersaults during the squealing was definitely there as well, but I would not allow myself to act on it. I mean, really; remembering my own name should not have sparked such a reaction. Also, I wasn't entirely sure I could do a somersault.  
I should not have wanted to grin like the cat that swallowed the canary, and I absolutely should not have wanted to prance around in the snow as if I was the smartest woman in the world.

Woman.

The word stopped my train of thought, and whatever excitement that previously resided in my expression was gone. Woman didn't seem accurate. The strawberry blonde female standing in front of me hadn't said anything since asking for my name. Her bright amber eyes were taking in every twitch, every blink, every unnecessary breath. Probably it should have irritated me, or even make me uncomfortable. In all honesty, it was doing the opposite. It ... amused me. Almost made me feel superior, that I stirred up feelings of caution from someone like her. Someone like me. The thing about that thought, though, was that I didn't exactly know what we were. Powerful was one thing I knew wholeheartedly. Quick. Perceptive. Lethal. Hungry.

And then I remembered my first victim.

First - because I knew there was going to be more someday.

Blood called to me, that much was obvious. Every cell in my being knew that I would not survive without it. Maybe I would go completely insane without the sweet crimson nectar. I could picture that; the thirst rising up in tidal waves of torment, ebbing and flowing through my mind and body, until one day ... bam. Tearing my own hair out and screaming about the sky being filled with purple and yellow cicadas. Perhaps I would just eventually waste away to dust if I denied my thirst long enough. Ouch. Even only imagining that made my throat scream in protest. I swallowed quickly, trying to relieve the agony, if even minutely. Of course it didn't work. The fire seemed as if it would never be extinguished, no matter how hard I tried. Even after only being awake for less than I day, I knew that normal human beings did not function this way. Right?  
I was not supposed to be able to do all of this. Hell, I didn't even know if I was supposed to be alive at the moment. For all I knew, I was the result of a freak accident, or a scientific experiment gone wrong.

I remembered the most recent events that had transpired. She had told me her name was Tanya. Her companion's name was Kate. Kate had gone to talk to someone named Alice. Alice was, apparently, right about something - something involving me. I wasn't sure how I felt about someone else knowing something I didn't, much less three other people. It almost didn't seem fair.

The sound of someone delicately clearing their throat interrupted my endless train of thought. My muscles tensed at the noise, and my burgundy eyes flickered over to topaz ones. I relaxed my shoulders apologetically; the silence must have seemed to stretch on for hours to her. A small grin tugged at the corners of her lips, but I did not return the gesture. Instead, I let my gaze take in her every detail, just as hers had done to me earlier. Long, curly, strawberry blonde hair that wove down to her waist. Perfect features that almost seemed out of place against the shadowed snow - like they belonged in a museum somewhere instead. For the first time (that I could remember) I felt envy. It started out slow, creeping into my stomach like vapor. The unknown twinge of jealousy actually made me wince. It was all wholly ridiculous, though. There was no point in getting jealous over someone's appearance, especially when I had no idea what I looked like in the first place.

My own thought made a tiny chuckle pass through my lips, and I immediately looked up at the opposite female with wide, horror-filled eyes. Her gaze had never left me, so when her face took on a quizzical expression, I knew she was wondering what was wrong. Why I was suddenly so tense, my every muscle taunt. I allowed her an explanation; I felt I owed her one. Why, I could not say.

"I laughed. I don't think I have ever done that before. And I did it in your presence, which is not my ideal ... location to purge something so ... personal? Actually, I did not even want to smile around you. Not out of fear of you - never misunderstand that, because I am not afraid of you - but out of fear of ... vulnerability." I struggled to find the right words. My mind was stumbling over itself, and my poor mouth just could not keep up. "You will have to forgive me, as this is all so very new. Please understand that I just cannot grasp it all at once. I mean, I can, but I cannot fully ... comprehend it."

The words came out in a jumbled mess, but she seemed to understand. "Tawny," Hearing someone say my name, a different velvet caressing the syllables, sent an odd shiver down my spine, "I was once a newborn myself. My sisters and I have been around for countless centuries, but the utter confusion of those waking moments are not something I'll ever forget. The first few months were tough, really. But then time passed, just as it will for you. It will get easier, you'll see."

I nodded slightly, but my mind was stuck on the word newborn. That term seemed fit for a child - something I was certainly not. Did she say something about centuries? Another part of my brain realized that I was still sitting in the snow, and my dress was damp. With quick grace, I was standing. Well, more like swaying at first. How frustrating; I had thoughts that seemed so far beyond the knowledge I thought I had, and yet simple physical skills were almost beyond me. A fierce scowl crossed my face and I stood firm in determination. _Take that, equilibrium!_ Another breathy laugh exhaled through my nose, and I turned my focus back to newborn.

"You say newborn, but I know I am not a baby. What exactly do you mean by that term?" I questioned bluntly, watching carefully as a mixture of confusion and understanding flickered through Tanya's eyes.

"No, you're not a baby - not in the traditional sense, anyway. But you have gone through a birth-like process. You have been reborn into something entirely new. Something entirely better."

That wasn't a detailed enough answer for me. Not even close.

"But I don't understand. What exactly have I been reborn into? I'm strong. Very strong. I can feel that. I can feel the power and the control. But I can also feel the thirst. It claws at me like a fire. I've never felt such pain before." I did not noticed the desperate edge my tone had taken by the end of my sentence, but it did not matter in the slightest. I wanted answers. I wanted knowledge.

Tanya's brows furrowed, and I could almost hear her thoughts grinding against one another as she worked up an explanation.

"Tawny, you do understand that you are no longer human, correct?"

I nodded impatiently.

_Thank you for stating the obvious, now tell me something I don't know._

"Your thirst for blood should have made it apparent..."

Should have made what apparent? That damned dread was slithering down my spine like a snake again, its tongue flickering like the unceasing flames in my throat.

"You have been changed. Changed into a..."

She didn't have to say it. I knew. I did not believe it, not right now anyway, but I knew. I was now one of those things that goes bump in the night. A small piece of my mind flickered to a single word, one word that brought back images of campfires and childish giggles and screams. The memory was short and only mildly painful, but I knew. I was now the stuff children's nightmares were made of. I had become a real life monster.

"Vampire." I finished with a barely audible whisper.

Yes, that one.


End file.
